Historical Figures Codexery

Frederick Jackson Turner

Historian of the frontier and sectionalism

Frederick Jackson Turner was a historian who developed the influential "Frontier Thesis" arguing that American character was shaped by westward expansion.[1][2] He was born in Portage, Wisconsin, and earned his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1890.[3][4]

Quick Facts

Born
14 November 1861
Birthplace
Portage, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died
14 March 1932
Place of death
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Discipline
History
Workplaces
University of Wisconsin, Harvard University, Huntington Library
Doctoral advisor
Herbert Baxter Adams
Notable students
Thomas Perkins Abernethy, Merle Curti

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Turner grew up in a middle-class family, the son of a newspaper editor and a schoolteacher mother.[3] He earned his PhD in 1890 with a thesis on the fur trade in Wisconsin, supervised by Herbert Baxter Adams.[4] Turner taught at the University of Wisconsin from 1890 to 1910 and at Harvard from 1910 to 1922.[5] He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1907 and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1911.[6]

His collection of older essays, The Frontier in American History, was published in 1920.[5] The writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, along with scientists Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer, shaped Turner's thinking.[3][7] Turner completed his studies at the University of Wisconsin in 1884, having been a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity during his time there.[7] Caroline Mae Sherwood and Turner were wed in Chicago during November of 1889.[8]

Rather than producing a large volume of publications, Turner's impact derived from his interpretive theories and the many students he trained.[9]

What the cited sources add

Alan Taylor's account notes that Turner's 1893 paper became the most influential essay by an American historian.[1] Taylor reports that Turner learned to despise traditional American history emphasizing Europe's cultural legacy during his graduate study at Johns Hopkins.[1] Taylor states that Turner's frontier thesis was less novel than it seemed, systematizing the conventional wisdom of middle America.[1] Taylor describes Turner's sharpest modern critic, Patricia Nelson Limerick, who asserted Turner was "ethnocentric and nationalist"[1]

Taylor notes that Turner's thesis thrives in popular culture despite academic attacks.[1] The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum added Turner to its Hall of Great Westerners in 2009.[10]

References

  1. Alan Taylor, "The Old Frontiers", May 7, 2008. facts only, no text reused. newrepublic.com
  2. Wikipedia, "Frederick Jackson Turner" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Alan Taylor, "The Old Frontiers", May 7, 2008 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Frederick Jackson Turner" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Was Famed as Educator and as Historian", Portage Daily Register, March 16, 1932, p. 1; Ridge, "The Life of an Idea: The Significance of Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis", Montana: The Magazine of Western History, 1991, p. 2–13 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Frederick Jackson Turner" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The character and influence of the Indian trade in Wisconsin : a study of the trading post as an institution", The Library of Congress (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Frederick Jackson Turner" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Whose American Revolution Was It?: Historians Interpret the Founding", NYU Press, 2011, p. 25 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Frederick Jackson Turner" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Allan G. Bogue, "'Not by Bread Alone': The Emergence of the Wisconsin Idea and the Departure of Frederick Jackson Turner." Wisconsin Magazine of History 2002 86; "Was Famed as Educator and as Historian", Portage Daily Register, March 16, 1932, p. 1; American Antiquarian Society Members Directory .; "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter T", American Academy of Arts and Sciences (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Frederick Jackson Turner" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robert H. Block, "Frederick Jackson Turner and American Geography", Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1980, p. 31–42; "Was Famed as Educator and as Historian", Portage Daily Register, March 16, 1932, p. 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Frederick Jackson Turner" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Was Famed as Educator and as Historian", Portage Daily Register, March 16, 1932, p. 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Frederick Jackson Turner" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bogue, "Frederick Jackson Turner Reconsidered", The History Teacher, 1994, p. 195–221 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Frederick Jackson Turner" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hall of Great Westerners", National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Frederick Jackson Turner (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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